Valentin Varennikov

Valentin Varennikov (15 December 1923-6 May 2009) was a general of the Soviet Union who fought in World War II, the Soviet-Afghan War, and 1991 attempted coup.

Biography
Varennikov was born in Krasnodar to a poor Cossack family, and he fought in the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942 during World War II. In 1954, having served on the eastern front for several years, he graduated from the Frunze Military Academy. During the last few years of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, Varennikov was the personal representative in Kabul of the Soviet Defence Minister, and held negotiations with the United Nations Mission members who oversaw the pullout from the country of Soviet troops between 1988 and 1989.

In 1991 Varennikov attempted to restore the Soviet Union in a coup against the Russian Federation but failed, and he refused to accept an amnesty in the aftermath. In 1995 he joined the Duma as a communist party leader.